What started this unsafe driving habit???

That "driver" was an idiot!

There are laws in some states that you can't drive in the shoulder but they don't mean that if you're stopped on the shoulder that you can't use the shoulder to get up some momentum before merging into moving traffic.

A little common sense goes a long way...


Now I know that someone here will say that they've gotten a ticket for accelerating from a stop on the shoulder but let me say in advance...I don't believe you!

I would have to see the ticket and know the circumstances before I would believe you because no cop in his right mind would write a ticket for that and in all of my years out here I've NEVER heard of a driver getting a ticket for that!

 

I have always grabbed gears before I came out. If a person is worried about getting a ticket. Just what do you think will happen when you cause a pile up or a fatality? Common sense. Traffic is 70 mph plus. You are 3 mph. How long do you think it will take them too close the gap?

 

Most people don't understand the concept of relative speed.

 

i agree... somes gonna die because of it.. but.. i do see more cars then trucks doing it... they can get up an going quicker but wont... trucks clearly take a lot longer... i have seen it happen way more often an someone is going to die cause of this crap.. take my word on it... i also dont understand why a big truck or small car pulls over on the shoulder next to the guard-rail when just about 1500 feet theire is a bigger shld to pull over on with no guard rail... if people are gonna stop an read a map, hit an off ramp, its a lot safer, a lot less traffic an can get a running start down the on-ramp.
people are clueless and careless out here anymore.... i remember hear/reading that trucks made up for less the 3% of at caused accidents, no doubt that number is climbing at a sad rate.

 

I spent 29 years stopping drivers on the California highways. At the conclusion of each stop I gave the driver clear instructions as to how to safely re-enter traffic (regardless of what kind of vehicle they were driving).
1. Accelerate on the shoulder...do not pull into the traffic lane from a dead stop.
2. Use your turn signal.
3. Enter the traffic lane when you can do so without interfering with other traffic.

 

HEY! I resemble that remark!

 

It's too easy to generalize and blame the schools, make it sound like it's always the newbies doing it with the blessing of the "Big Bad Bottom Feeder" companies. I have seen this behavior from all sectors of the industry and quite frankly get tired of the Seasoned Old Pharts with, say, 5 years out here always jumping to the conclusion that if a mistake was made, it was made by someone just starting out who happens to have taken some classroom time to get their CDL. Do y'all think we should go back to the old ways of learning? Like, "Here's the keys, there's your truck, don't hit anything." Or Uncle Joe sitting in the seat next to you yelling in your ear...was it better that way? Or was that just another way to keep people out of trucking that maybe you didn't like? You know...keep the Good Ol' Boys Club safe from riff-raff like women and young people who want to drive but don't have family in the biz. At least coming out of a school I had a partial clue.

(End of rant)

As to the initial question: although I do not stop on the freeway unless I have to, there are occasions when I need to for directions, check an airline, whatever...and there isn't a git-off anywhere near or the git-off has a six-inch shoulder and sharp dropoff. I will try to find the widest spot possible. Usually it's where there is no guardrail. I was never taught in school, either CDL or basic driver's ed to merge from a complete stop. And I want the names of the schools and instructors who told you that malarky. Regardless of what you think you were told, there is a very important piece of equipment between your ears that should be put to better use than dreaming up ways to depants that seatcover, however noble that pursuit may be.

People merge from a dead stop because many highway departments aren't cleaning up large road debris as often as they used to, the driver does not like having his or her molars shaken loose by the rumble strip or they are just plain not looking or thinking. I almost mashed a sedan two days ago as he pulled this very stunt.

 

Bottom line is that there are millions of drivers, both truck and 4 wheelers, that don't have a lick of sense. Or common courtesy.

It's all about "me", and a lack of "wanting to be the best at what I do".

Ooh, it's against the law to cut my headlights to let another driver passing me know he is clear. Ooh, it's against the law to flash my markers to say "Thanks" to the driver that cut his lights for me. Oooh, it's against the law to drive on the shoulder.

It's too bad it's not against the law to be an idiot.

 

I agree with this. Whenever the qualcomm beeps, I start looking for a safe place to pull over to read the message. Company policy states pulling over on the interstate is for emergencies only; if I am hit by another vehicle it is automatically my fault.

I usually look for an exit ramp that will have and entry ramp going right back on the freeway. I will pull over on the onramp to do map reading, qualcomm or snacks figuring the drunken innocent victim is less likely to plow into me while accelerating as opposed to say following my lights down the road while I'm actually parked (on the offramp).